Before partnering with Reward Builder in 2021, B&I’s recognition efforts were fragmented and labor-intensive. Mike Biskie, Employee Engagement Manager, faced three major obstacles:

Administrative Burden Was Crushing Efficiency

“I had to go to the store to buy gift cards from time to time,” Mike recalls. For major events like their annual holiday party— which required close to 100 gift cards across multiple award categories—the logistics were overwhelming. Cards had to be ordered weeks in advance, shipped, received, inventoried, and manually distributed. One missed deadline or shipping delay meant scrambling to fix the problem before employees noticed.

Generic Recognition Missed the Mark

B&I’s previous vendor offered only plastic cards with no personalization options. “We couldn’t really customize them,” Mike explains. Awards that should have felt meaningful—Outstanding Performer recognitions, top achiever celebrations— arrived looking identical to every other gift card. The lack of branding, personalized messages, or visual distinction made even significant accomplishments feel generic.

Field Teams Were Systematically Excluded

With 85% of B&I’s workforce remote on job sites scattered across South Florida (from Tampa to Key West), physical card distribution created impossible logistics. Superintendents managing crews across 100+ active job sites couldn’t easily recognize good work in the moment. And with 50% of the workforce Spanish-speaking, language barriers compounded the challenge. B&I needed recognition that could reach every employee—whether they were on a 100-person hospital project or a single-person job site—without requiring HR to physically deliver cards.

The CEO’s feedback crystallized the problem: “Why don’t we get recognized when we do a good job?”

B&I implemented Reward Builder in December 2021, starting with their holiday party gift card needs and rapidly expanding to multiple recognition programs.

Immediate Implementation with Hands-On Support

“We sort of jumped in with both feet,” Mike says. Facing the December holiday party deadline with 100+ rewards needed, B&I didn’t have time for a lengthy rollout. Account Manager, Jenn Walkowiak, walked them through the platform setup, template creation, and bulk ordering process. Within days, B&I was issuing personalized, branded certificates—no physical inventory, no shipping delays, no store runs.

Reward Builder eliminates the guesswork of selecting gift cards that admins think employees will like. Instead, employees receive a reward certificate that lets them choose what matters most to them from over 400 brands of gift cards, prepaid cards, and a wide variety of products.

Three-Tier Recognition Architecture

B&I now runs multiple programs through a single platform:

1. Company-Wide Celebration
   Thanksgiving grocery rewards, holiday party awards, National Certification Day recognition, and ESOP stock price announcement lunches.
2. Training Incentives
   Partnership with Training Manager, Angela Thomas, to reward course completion—$20 per lower-level module, $40 per upper-level module. “If they finish five modules, they’re going to get $100 in rewards, and we send it right to them in their email,” Mike explains
3. Field Team Recognition Program
   Reward Builder’s hierarchy feature allowed B&I to create groups for their 13 regional managers (3 in the Southeast, 5 in West Central, and 5 in the Southwest). Each regional manager receives a quarterly budget to order rewards and recognize their teams.

Bilingual Delivery Meets Field Realities

Reward Builder’s Spanish-language capabilities solved B&I’s language barrier immediately. “Fifty percent of our workforce speaks Spanish, so everything we do has to be bilingual,” Mike emphasizes. The platform’s text and email delivery options reach employees without corporate email addresses, while the mobile-first redemption experience works for teams on job sites where phones may be prohibited during work hours but accessible during breaks.

Two Admins, 1,200 Employees, Zero Bottlenecks

Only Mike and Angela maintain admin access, funding regional manager accounts as needed. Managers request refills when their quarterly budget depletes, then independently order rewards for their teams.

85% Reduction in Recognition Administration Time

B&I eliminated store trips, manual inventory management, and physical distribution entirely. What previously required hours of advance planning now takes minutes. “We have the ability to do recognition that we were not able to do in the past,” Mike says simply.

Field Team Morale Surged with Spontaneous Recognition

“We’ve gotten some actually very positive feedback from our field employees,” Mike reports. The shift from annual events to frequent, in-the-moment recognition transformed how field teams experience appreciation. Managers can now celebrate project milestones, safety achievements, or exceptional customer service immediately—not months later at a company-wide event.

Zero Learning Curve for 1,200 Employees

“I have not heard anyone saying, ‘Hey, how do I redeem this,’” Mike notes. The redemption experience works seamlessly across languages, locations, and technical comfort levels. Text and email delivery reach employees wherever they are, while Reward Builder’s customer support team resolves the rare technical issue ( wrong email addresses, lost rewards) within the same day.

Flexibility Enabled New Recognition Opportunities

The platform’s versatility unlocked recognition programs B&I hadn’t considered before. When the CEO wanted to celebrate an increase in ESOP stock value , B&I organized regional town halls for 400-500 employees and provided rewards for their lunches. ”Tying rewards in for lunches made everyone happy.” Mike explains.

Manager Empowerment Created Recognition Culture

Distributing a quarterly budget to 13 managers transformed recognition from an HR program to a leadership tool. Senior managers occasionally request one-off recognition (“Hey, can I order a $250 reward for this guy? He did this super special thing”). “If we get a request, we can go into Reward Builder, create a reward certificate with a personal message, and send it instantly in the form of a text and/or email,” Mike says. Recognition became reactive to achievements rather than restricted to scheduled events.